A woman with mild cerebral palsy has raised hundreds of pounds in a sponsored swimathon to support a very worthy cause.

Sarah Wanigasooriya set herself the challenge of swimming 7,166 metres: one metre for every kilometre between her home in High Wycombe and Damascus, Syria, and back again.

The NHS occupational therapist said: "I wanted to take on a swimming challenge with a distance that was significant, both in metres for me and in relation to ShelterBox.

“Syria is one of the many places the charity is working in and has been working in for more than ten years.

"I chose the distance in hope that it would get people talking about the ongoing issues and what people in Syria have been facing for so many years.”

Supporters of the international disaster relief charity, ShelterBox, have raised over £11,000 for people around the world left without shelter after disaster by taking part in its annual Tent for Lent challenge.

Every year the church Sarah attends, St Francis of Assiss, chooses an organisation to support during Lent. This year’s chosen charity was ShelterBox.

The charity has been supporting people in Syria since 2012, responding to conflict and more recently those displaced by powerful earthquakes.

Sarah, 47, continues: “The congregation at the church came together to organise lots of fundraising events for Tent for Lent including afternoon teas, coffee mornings, and quiz nights. I decided to go solo with my ‘sponsored swimathon’.

“I used to be a keen swimmer when I was younger, but my skills as an adult have declined. I also have mild cerebral palsy, so walking and running are not my forte, but my husband says I’m a different person when in a swimming pool. 7,000 metres proved a good enough challenge.

“I swam every week during Lent, including a moonlit swim at the local lido. Despite having to squeeze in a few lengths on my lunch breaks, I was thrilled to finish my challenge a week earlier than expected, and to raise a good amount of money for such an important cause.”

Through her JustGiving page, Sarah raised £765 for ShelterBox, which will help support its projects around the world.

Since it was founded in 2000, ShelterBox has supported over 2.5 million people in around 100 countries.

The charity is currently responding in Malawi where heavy rain has caused severe flooding, damaging and washing away homes. A ShelterBox response team has been working with local people and CARE Malawi to distribute tarpaulins, tools, water filters, solar lights, and other essential items.

ShelterBox is also responding to conflict in Gaza, Mozambique, Cameroon, and Yemen.

People wanting to find out more about ShelterBox, can do so by visiting: ShelterBox.org